Intel Arrow Lake: CPU coolers remain compatible, but there are restrictions
The Core Ultra 200S require new mainboards, but CPU coolers remain compatible. The only exception: contact frames.
Noctua sends out LGA1851-compatible mounting kits for its older CPU coolers. Other manufacturers are likely to follow suit.
(Image: Noctua)
Processor coolers that are compatible with Intel's previous desktop platform LGA1700 also work with new LGA1851 mainboards. Although the matching Core Ultra 200S aka Arrow Lake use a new CPU socket with additional contacts, the holes for coolers remain identical.
Most CPU coolers sold since summer 2022 include mounting material for LGA1700 and therefore also LGA1851 mainboards. Manufacturers such as Noctua will send new mounting material for older coolers free of charge if you submit proof of purchase for a cooler and mainboard.
However, there are still detailed changes to the LGA1851 that affect cooling. Intel has moved the CPU socket slightly downwards relative to the holes. This shifts the center of the cooler base plate slightly upwards, where the hottest processor component sits under the heatspreader: the compute tile with the CPU cores. The latter should remain somewhat cooler due to the asymmetrical alignment.
Two bracket variants ex works
In addition, the Core Ultra 200S should no longer flex as much as the Core i-12000, -13000 and -14000. Until now, the concentrated contact pressure in the middle of the sides – was problematic, as the bracket pressed the processor into the middle of the socket. This could cause the carrier (the small green circuit board under the silicon chip) to bend after years of use, which affects the cooling. For most users, this is hardly relevant. However, anyone who spends a lot of money on a few degrees cooler temperatures is likely to be annoyed.
Intel has therefore launched a variant with reduced pressure for the LGA1851, the so-called "RL-ILM" (Reduced Load Integrated Lever Mechanism). German hobbyist Roman "der8auer" Hartung shows the design and its effects in the video.
Basically, it is a nicer washer modification: a plastic washer increases the distance between the mounting frame and the mainboard, which reduces the contact pressure. der8auer measured a bending of 45 micrometers (0.045 mm) instead of 79.
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Although the plastic washers only cost pennies, the RL-ILM version is not used on all mainboards, but tends to be used on the higher-priced ones. Noctua, which offers the high-end NH-D15 G2 cooler with three different convex baseplates, nevertheless now recommends the standard version with medium convexity for all LGA1851 mainboards. The CPU deformation should now generally be less.
LGA1700 contact frames, which replace Intel's standard bracket and distribute the contact pressure evenly over the entire CPU, no longer fit on LGA1851 mainboards due to the now asymmetrical processor orientation.
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